Stray Bullets
by xxSnowxxAngelxx
Summary: Collection of side stories from Shot of Magic, extra 'content' not overly pertaining to the storyline of Shot of Magic.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So this is where Tours and various side-quest stuff will go. Things that are part of the game, but not overly mentioned (and Episode stuff, Gladio's might go in here, not too sure yet, and Prompto's I think might go in main story since it's mostly from his P.O.V... . Anyway, anything that I don't want to put into the main story but which will be referenced in the main story will go here.

That being said... This takes place before the guys arrive in Galdin, like between retrieving the Regalia and heading to Galdin... Update: So now that you can undertake more than one hunt at a time, that's what I'm going with for why they have a 'stack' of posters. In truth it's only the ones you can get from Takka and Longwythe right now...

* * *

First up: Hunting for cash in Leide.

* * *

Prompto flipped through the small stack of posters, organizing them by danger level and whether they were daytime hunts or night ones. If they were efficient about it, they could take care of a number of daytime ones then the few night time ones, it'd only take a day! They didn't have much experience in Hunts like these, but the jobs were easy enough, even the nighttime ones. Perfect for newbie hunters, he figured. Which they were, if unofficially so.

"Hey Noct, wanna earn some Gil? This one's close by and it looks super easy!" Prompto had twisted around in his seat and held out the poster in question. It was one he'd picked up from Takka while they were in Hammerhead. It asked for them to slay five 'spiracorns' which from the poster picture, Prompto thought looked like the demonic version of a Unicorn. From the blackish gray fur, to the demonic red eyes and spiraling horn (which is clearly where they got the name 'Spiracorn' from). Actually, they kinda looked like someone bred a Thestral with a Unicorn, almost, but not quite. They were certainly skeletal enough to be mistaken for such.

The reason they had to hunt them, though, was because they were causing property damage and attacking people that got 'too close', so they needed to be taken down. He didn't like the idea of killing such... er... majestic creatures, but they were becoming dangerous and not at all harmless. Definitely nothing like the Thestrals or Unicorns back on Earth. Noctis took the poster from him to look over.

"Sure, sounds easy enough. Specs, can you go to this location?" Ignis agreed, if only because they really could use the money right now. They pulled up as close to the spot as they could, and were able to see the target from the roadside.

As the fight progressed, he found himself liking the things less and less. The four friends managed to fight fairly well together, not quite as well as a more experienced group would, but well enough against these Spiracorns. No one even got gored or really horribly injured by the sharp horns.

Prompto even managed to shoot one at just the right point (with a magic-enhanced shot) to break off a horn of one of them. Noct and Gladio dealing the most damage, while Prompto and Ignis were acting as support or distraction mainly. Though really, Prompto felt like he was dealing the least amount of damage and not being much use to the group. However, he kept these doubts to himself and even managed to sing/hum a little victory song that he couldn't exactly remember where he heard it, before or some time in the last twenty years.

"So, that went well... Think we could take on a couple more? There is one just across the road a ways behind Hammerhead..." Prompto suggested brightly, vowing to himself to be more useful in the next one.

"Maybe we should hand in the hunt before going onto the next, if we're heading that direction anyway." Was Ignis' input. They all just kind of shrugged or grunted agreement (Gladio making a sort of grunt of agreement or simply not caring either way and not shrugging), so they piled back into the Regalia to return to Hammerhead and Takka's diner. The reward was small, but it was to be expected for a relatively easy Hunt.

The next hunt was much the same, with Prompto feeling pretty useless with his guns dealing less damage than Ignis' daggers or Noct's array of weapons. He wasn't even going to think about how much worse than Gladio he was because it would just be depressing. The man swung a giant meat cleaver for crying out loud. He could probably deal with the whole thing alone.

As it was getting late by this point, the four headed back for Hammerhead, where they turned in the hunt, then headed out into the Weaverwilds for that nighttime hunt before calling it a day. By the end of it he felt much like Noct did about mushy deserts.

"Eugh, that was gross! How could something like that even exist? It's an abomination and an affront to nature!" Prompto had been going on about how horrible it was for a while now, while the friends were sitting at the camper's table in Hammerhead. The reward was barely worth the effort, really, but helping Hammerhead was totally worth it.

-end-

Ugh, I suck at combat scenes... . Blegh. Yeah so this has been resisting all efforts to be written, but I wanted the first drabble/chapter of side-stories to be something before Keycatrich. Because the second one of this, which sadly was easier to write, will take place just after Chapter 3 of the game starts. I say sadly because of wanting to write them in order of chapter they pertain to... I already have most of the next 'chapter' for this side-stories thing written out... setting is just after they reach the Alstor Coernix Station. I'm going with it being near night when they arrive thus they stop for the night there.

-small chapter, but meh, fighting scenes... we all know how the fights go, so I don't mind making this one small... .


	2. Chapter 2: Nighttime Flight

Chapter Two is here, though I recommend reading Chapter Eight of Shots of Magic first, since this takes place at the end of that chapter and before Chapter Nine (which is yet to be started on).

* * *

Prompto had been shooting worried looks Noct's way throughout the day, since the morning when they had driven back to the checkpoint at Insomnia's border and throughout their return to Hammerhead and trip to the Outpost. No one else seemed to think they could take a moment and just vent or anything about the fall of their home. They expected Noct to push through and be fine, just hours later. Like he hadn't just lost his last parent (Prompto had never asked about Noct's mom, it always seemed rude to bring up any question about her absence. He heard some rumors and such about her dying when Noct was young) and his home all in one night.

They had fought alongside Cor the Immortal against Imperials, and the man was incredible in battle. He'd even complimented Prompto! True, Prompto wasn't bad in a fight, but he was raised mostly civilian this time around (last time he'd grown up in a civilian house, but was expected to save everyone all the same) and hadn't been experienced at fighting in this more muggle way. He had, however, managed to get his trusty gun to shoot a number of spells, such as a weird mix of the Lumos and Patronus charms to ward off daemons as night fell and they showed up.

He decided to call this new move 'Starshell', since it looked like a miniature sun as it hung in the air and weakened/injured daemons. He'd also 'invented' his move, simply called 'Piercer' which was the magically-supercharged shot that could possibly even penetrate Basilisk hide. Gladio and Ignis had their own cool moves, and Noct usually called out a move or other for them to use if they didn't use them themselves. He'd follow up on their moves to deal extra damage, though Starshell seemed like something that couldn't really have a 'follow-up' anyway.

Well, they got two Royal Arms, one was easily accessible in the open air and above ground, the second not-so-much... Prompto didn't usually mind underground passages, but he'd make an exception for the place they found their second Royal Arm in. Crawling with funky-looking Goblins. He honestly missed the Wizarding Worlds Goblins. They were at least civilized and didn't attack you all the damned time. It didn't matter what time of day it was down there either, as there was no sunlight.

When they finished there, it was to another 'job' Cor wanted them for; Taking out the Niff base that was about to cut them off from the rest of Lucis. Noct went on alone to fight alongside Cor and he put his all into providing a distraction so Noct would get through this with as few enemies to worry about as possible. If the other's noticed this, they said nothing. Once they had finished (and apparently they'd spent the night and most of the following day underground), they continued on to Duscae Region once Cor took off again.

Seriously, Cor the Restless suited him better than 'Immortal'. Maybe he should be called the 'Restless Immortal'? Both fit the man to a tee. He was getting side-tracked. Anyway, they set up for the night at the first gas station they'd encountered. He had seen a sign about Chocobo's and practically begged his crush-and-best-friend-ever to go see them, despite Gladio's protest about not making Iris wait too long. But as it was too late, they'd go in the morning, since Noct had agreed to it. Now he was sitting at the table, unable to sleep for the time being, when Noct came up to him, also unable to sleep it seemed.

"Hey." The darkly dressed prince spoke, sounding surprised to see anyone still up. It was late after all and they hadn't slept since the day before.

"Hey." Prompto gave Noct a once-over and could tell that something was definitely bothering his friend. "Wanna go somewhere for a bit? leave those two behind and get an incredible view of the region?" His question surprised Noctis, for he turned dark-blue(almost silver in certain lighting) eyes on him.

"How? Can't exactly drive off in the Regalia without waking them." He jerked his head towards the camper they'd borrowed for the night, of which there were about a half-dozen at this pit-stop for travelers not wanting to drive through the night.

"Well, I told you about Sirius, yeah?" He got a slow nod from Noctis, who clearly didn't see where he was going with that. Prompto felt a grin, slightly roguish and rather like he was about to pull a good prank. "And you remember about how he could sneak around without getting caught?" He waited for the proverbial light-bulb to go off as he stood and moved back a bit. Noct took a little longer, before he too stood and looked at him in slight dawning awe.

"You mean... You can turn into something too?" The way Noct's voice said that had Prompto fighting off shivers that had nothing to do with cold or anything. His grin widened and without verbal reply Prompto shifted. It was fluid, and almost instantaneous. One second Prompto was there, the next it was a 15' 6" Winged Snake. What would be called the Quetzalcoatl back on Earth, which was vastly different to the Quetzalcoatl found on Eos, which he would come to learn eventually. Noctis had jumped back when he saw the snake in front of him, but there was no fear or disgust on his face which Prompto was so relieved about.

"Woah... Prompto? That's you?" Noct was coming closer, looking rather in awe and Prompto couldn't help but preen and bask in the feeling of being the cause of this in his friend. His hooded head lowered itself and he nodded, his indigo eyes gazing at Noct. That was one thing he'd been surprised about, how his eye color for this form having changed to match his current human-ones and not the poisonous Avada green of his previous life. After letting Noct examine him for a bit, Prompto shifted so his back was facing Noct and his wings were spread out, a clear invite to Noct.

Noctis seemed to realize what he wanted, for he came up to him and wrapped his arms around Prompto above the wings and his legs were on either side of Prompto's body. Prompto shifted slightly, just to test out if this was a comfortable position before giving Noct a look which said 'hold on' and with a burst of magic and muscle took off into the air. Had Prompto been able, he'd have laughed joyously at Noct's somewhat loud scream at the sudden movement which Noct cut off fairly quick. Flying had been incredible when he first tried it, despite his thoughts about just how cliché it was. He hadn't really liked Quiddich as much as the rest of the school, but had loved just flying free like that.

Prompto had a location in mind, but for now he wanted to show his friend some truly amazing scenery. He'd not done this often back in Insomnia, as the city never slept, it honestly kind of reminded him of that one city in America... the name escaped him at the moment, as it had been so long since he'd last thought of the mundane side of Earth. The feeling of flying was therapeutic for him, and the fact that Noct was there with him made him think of this as an almost-date. He was rather strongly reminded of Aladdin. With him whisking his beloved royal away for a moment of reprieve.

All too soon he angled towards the large arches behind and above the gas station and set them down gently. His muscles felt pleasantly strained, in the way of a good workout after too long inactive. When Noctis removed his arms from Prompto and there was room enough, he shifted back with nary a staggering motion. There was a look of definite awe in Noct's eyes, and it chased away all sorrow or burden's from the eyes of his best friend.

"That. Was incredible." Was all the eloquent prince said, though Prompto could hear the emotion behind it, bordering on the level of Assassin's Creed fanboying almost. He grinned.

"Right? I love flying. Used to only be able to fly on a broom for Quidditch, but it was always exhilarating and so freeing that I'd sometimes sneak out past curfew just to fly around for hours." He was never one to keep his interests to himself, so he gushed about the joy of flying for a while. When that was done and the two were sat down looking out at the Duscae region in all it's moonlit glory, Prompto put on a serious expression.

It was one he rarely showed to anyone, even Noct. It was one that was often on Harry's face towards the end, when they were hunting for pieces of the mad-man's soul to destroy him.

"Noct. The reason I brought you up here is because you need to grieve. For all that we've accomplished since Galdin, there's still the whole thing with the Empire. I know from personal experience how bad of an idea it is to not vent properly when you have the time." He held up a hand to silence Noct who looked about to protest. "No, listen. Everyone's pushing you to move on, grow up and get things done, and that's all well and good at times, you also need to step back and grieve over everything that happened."

He took a breath. "Noct, when Sirius died, no one took me aside and asked if I was okay. No one thought to have me speak to a psychologist or mind healer, instead I was given some information about a damned prophecy that I was to fulfill, indirectly told Sirius' death was my fault, and then shortly after shuffled back to the Dursley's and left alone. The year before was much the same, only I was kept in the dark because it 'wasn't safe' to give me any information, while it was clear my 'friends' knew what was happening at least more than I did, no one even mentioned how the Ministry was running a smear campaign against me.

"Anyway," He was getting side-tracked by his own anger at the Wizarding World. "Pushing aside those feelings and not being allowed to deal with them ended up with some rather explosive meltdowns that I only recognize as such in hindsight." Prompto gave a small, sardonic smile which dropped quickly. "I'm here for you buddy. You don't need to hold up any pretense around me." He hoped Noct would open up to him.

He'd wait for as long as he needed for his friend. He'd help Noct like no one had helped him when he needed it most. If they had, he might have had a reason to go back, he'd never have met Noct or known anything about this wonderful (if inhabited by the oddest monsters EVER) world he'd found himself in. Back in Insomnia, he'd have helped Noct with video games or movies or something, but out here, with Insomnia fallen to the Empire, chick flick moments were the only option.

Noct would always be worth the wait. He didn't care that that sounded overly sappy or dramatic. When Noct started, Prompto offered only his full and rapt attention and soon the two were screaming and crying and letting out all the pain of loss, of betrayal (at the hands of Niflheim), and beginning to heal each others hearts.

By the end of Noct's venting session, both young men were emotionally drained, but lighter for it. He shifted back and took to the air once Noct was securely on his back again. They landed at the same spot as they took off and went to bed, neither aware that the other two had noticed their absence and were awake at their return. The morning would see them back at it, with the two younger of the group unaware or ignoring the pointed looks their companions shot them through out the drive.

-end-

So feels... also, yeah upon posting of the seventh chapter of the main story Prompto has shifted into a kitten-Nekomata in front of the guys, but lets say that it was kind of forgotten or pushed aside from their minds from the obtaining of the Axe of the Conqueror and the taking down of Niflheim's base blocking the route to Duscae... He'll mention both forms in Chapter 8 at some point possibly... or not. Got through that chapter with no mention of the animal forms. Meh, next chapter then...


	3. Chapter 3

AN: May 31 (1am) And nothing written until June 23... I am horrible... =_= not helped by about four more idea's for stories.. One of which is a tri-crossover with HPxNarutoxOP... That I've already started working on Chapter 2 of...

Anywho. This is taking place the night they stay in the Leville in Chapter 11 (which I am posting shortly as I finally finished it). Listening to 'Give Me One Reason' by Tracy Chapman while writing this XP.

That night, Noct had the bed essentially to himself, as Prompto promptly shifted to a feline form and curled up on one side of the bed. Noct smiled slightly, a smile missed by all three of his friends, and got into the bed. They had been taking turns at the shower, with Prompto calling 'shotgun' and heading to the bathroom first. Noct got it second, Ignis third and Gladio was in there now.

Noctis sighed as his head hit the pillow, laying boneless and closing his eyes. It wasn't on the level of his bed back home, both in the Citadel and his apartment, but it was certainly better than camping on the ground in a tent or in a trailer/camper. It was definitely better than the motel in Longwythe that they had stayed at while taking out some monsters for Gil. Noctis was out like a light before the shower stopped running.

[dream smexy-time XP]

Noct felt someone moving above him, from where he was sprawled on his back. Now he would have been flipping out, but there was an unmistakeable smell that caused him to relax instantly. The body against him moved, and he gasped as something hard poked his stomach. Turns out he was only marginally reclined and not flat out laying down. There was an answering moan and the body moved back a bit.

He felt a pert behind rubbing against him and groaned at the feel. There was a little gasping chuckle before the persons face moved into his field of view and lips were pressed against his. He felt a swell of desire and passion as they parted lips to let their tongues tangle in a fight for dominance. His hands moved, seemingly of their own accord, and grasped the hips that were moving languidly in his lap, squeezing in what seemed to be a sensitive spot that distracted the other enough to let him gain dominance.

There was a stirring within his mind, some possessive feeling that lay claim to the enticing being on his lap. He didn't disagree, so he let his fingers tighten their hold near enough to bruise. Lips parted for air and Noct growled out a 'Mine.' which received an agreeing hum of pleasure from his partner.

Those hips began moving again, bringing their arousals together in a tantalizing way. His hips joined in as the two practically rutted against each other. Moans and gasps left both their lips and soon it wasn't enough. They were peeling clothing too fast to follow before they were both bared to each others' gaze.

"Noct..." A gasp left those bruised lips, as they'd kissed again a few times in between nibbling of the neck and teasing of the pert little nubs of the other's chest. Eyes of such a shade of blue they almost looked purple stared into deep blue-gray eyes made dark with desire. Both had pupils blown in lust and that only made him desire the other that much more.

He didn't answer verbally, instead sticking two fingers into the parted lips for the other to suck on. When he felt they were slick enough, Noct pulled the digits out and replaced them with his mouth, swallowing any noise of protest and distracting from those fingers trailing down to the other's rear.

[scene end *evil cackle* ]

Noct woke with a groan to an empty hotel room and a little 'problem'. He grimaced as he sat up, wondering why he'd had that kind of dream about his best friend of about twelve years. Thank the six none of the guys were there as he made his way to the shower to deal with the problem.

"P-Prompto..." Noct groaned out the name as he jerked off. He finished quickly (due both to the dream and his embarrassingly being a virgin still) and cleaned himself and the shower up, then got changed and fixed his hair into its usual spiky style. When he stepped out of the room, he forced any sign of his recent activities and thoughts back and assumed his usual attitude as he made his way down the stairs.

Iris and Jared were there in the lobby when he reached the bottom of the stairs. Iris greeted him with a cheerful teasing good morning.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

"Morning. Where is everyone?" Noct returned the greeting easily.

"They're out walking with Talcott, exploring what Lestallum has to offer. See the sights." She gave him a look that had him feeling slightly apprehensive. "We should go too!" He thought it over, then shrugged and replied.

"Sure. Why not." The place was big enough he might get turned around on his own, plus it had been a while since he last did anything for fun or anything with Iris. She was a friend, and Gladio's little sister, so it couldn't hurt to hang out with her for a bit right?

"Great. I'll show you around!" She sounded too happy about that, but he put it aside as her being a girl or something. Maybe she was trying to distract herself from the events of Insomnia's fall? Jared stood up then and addressed Iris.

"It seems your patience was rewarded." That was confusing, but Noctis ignored it as they headed for the exit, bidding Jared goodbye as he spoke again. "Enjoy your walk, and take care."

"First up, we'll check the marketplace. Right this way." Iris kept up a minor commentary, about how it was prettier at night and Noct made a noncommittal noise, though he filed that away for later. "This is the Partellum Market. You can get almost anything here." It was also bustling and looked to be too crowded for them to get anywhere, but that didn't deter Iris.

"Isn't it great? I'd buy out the whole place if I could." She paused and waited for his response. He blinked and wondered how to react.

"All these shops. It ah... seems right up your alley." Yes he added a pun in there. Because the market was IN an alley. Iris didn't seem to notice it though and Noct felt a slight annoyance. Prompto would have come up with a quick quip, not what Iris replied with.

"You know me so well." Eh. It was fine if she didn't see the pun. They found an opening in the crowd and made their way in, looking at various things. Iris stopped at one place and told him to wait a moment. He was looking around at another stall's wares and didn't see whatever she purchased. After that, they continued on their way, Iris showing him the way to the power plant and telling him about it.

"But get this, only women work there. In fact, women are the ones that do all the work here." Noctis was skeptical about that, having seen guys manning most if not all the stalls at the market as well as the counter at the Leville. Maybe she meant the women did the 'heavy lifting' type work. The things that traditionally were done by men in a patriarchal society. Things like construction, electrical, etc. That made more sense.

"Sounds like your kind of place. I could see you doing well here." Noctis encouraged. After all, Iris had always seemed rather strong willed and there were many strong women in his dad's Kingsglaive and the crownsguard. Iris was happy at the praise or encouragement, going on about how it was surprising at first, and so different from back home which was still rather more 'male dominant'. Even though recent years had seen many instances of equality in the work force, there were some things still expected of females, and some things thought to be men's work.

"Alright. Next we're going to the outlook!" Iris took the lead again and the two made their way down to the main thoroughfare and across the road. The outlook was so called, because it looked out over the gouge known as the Taelpar Craig, and in the distance you could see the meteor. Iris pointed it out with a 'Look, there's the Meteor.' She hopped, yes hopped, over to stand next to him.

"You know, Noct... this almost feels like a date!" and she cuddled up to his side to make a point of her statement. Noct stood back and waved that off, feeling all kinds of 'eww' and 'this isn't right..'

"What? No, not at all." He thought it would be like dating a sister or something. Thus quickly moving away to get some distance. If she thought of it as a date... He internally shuddered. Nope, not happening. There was a certain blond he'd rather go on a date with. His mind conjured an image of spiky blond hair and deep blue-purple eyes above a face he could trace blindfolded.

"Would it kill you to play along for once?!" Iris demanding irately drew him out from remembrance of his dream last night. She sighed shortly and added on, "The others are probably back at the hotel now. Lets join them.." There was a hint of disappointment there that Noct pretended not to notice as they headed back for the hotel.

Iris stopped just beside the fountain. "Heh, haven't had fun like this since we were kids. Thanks Noct" Iris smiled when he chuckled a bit.

"No sweat. I had fun too." He smirked as he added, "though it was NOT a date." She pouted, but brightened quickly. Clearly ignoring the teasing.

"Really? I'm so happy to hear that." He was ready to turn around and go to the hotel's lobby when she spoke again. "Anyway, that thing I bought today is for you. But its a surprise, so you're going to have to wait."

AN: Originally going to end after the dream, but then I thought that the 'Stroll for Two' would be better as part of this as it is from Noct's point of view and the main story would be more Prompto's pov with ocassional shifts to the others' and other people's points of view... so yeah. Longer chapter three of Stray Bullets now.

Still undecided on what I'll do during the Train scene and following chapter... . but there's plenty time to figure it out... final count (if anyone is interested) is 1,623 words.

XP Ja Ne till the next one! (might get right to work on Chapter 12)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So in the midst of trying to write chapter thirteen of Shot of Magic, I had an idea for what happens to get Noct thinking about relationships and Prompto, and possibly beginning to realize his feelings for the blond. (though the dream sequence from Chapter Three of Stray Bullets was a definite start.)

Also, Prompto will acquire one of the Deathly Hallows! (not the wand, though)

* * *

The group left the Tomb and made their way through the caverns again, retracing their steps carefully. They had just gotten back to the large chamber they came across before, which was lit by whatever natural light could get through. when the ground crumbled under Prompto's feet and sent him sliding down into a previously unseen area.

The guys all would have followed after him, but daemons sprang up and they had no time to try it. Prompto screamed bloody murder the whole way down the 'slide', which wasn't as steep of a slide so much as a long and slippery one.

He finally shot out one end into a chamber not unlike the Royal Tomb, only lacking the statues of a Royal Chamber. Instead there were bookshelves, which were mostly bare, a couple books, and in the center a pedestal with a familiar, shimmery cloak. He didn't notice it immediately, though, as he was somewhat dazed from his landing and just kind of lay there for a few minutes.

He finally stood up and looked around. The room was interesting, but his eyes landed on the cloak almost immediately once he started to look around. Violet-blue eyes widened at the sight of a familiar cloak. Prompto just sort of stood there, dumbfounded. When he finally snapped out of it, all he could think was,

"What the hell? How the bloody hell did that even GET here?" before walking up to it and placing his hand on his cloak. It was the first, if not only, thing he'd gotten that had been his fathers, when he was Harry. His fingers stroked the fabric gently, before clenching tightly.

Tears threatened to fall, but he held them back. He quickly picked up the robe and pulled out his camera bag, which he'd painstakingly stitched Runes into to add extra pockets that were larger than they appeared from the outside. He placed it within one such pocket and sent it back to the storage-dimension they kept such equipment in.

After that, he moved over to the shelves and picked up the first book he touched. Opening it revealed Latin, which was not a language used in this world. His mind short-circuited a second or so there, before he actually took in the words on the page he was currently on. It was a spell-book. From Earth. More specifically, it was an English wizarding book. The spells were ones he recognized from Defense Spellbooks from almost every year he had attended (fifth not counting because Umbridge was a horrible Defense teacher). There were even spells he was unfamiliar which, but which seemed to be Dark spells more than Defensive spells.

He flipped through the book and got to the page which gave publishing details, only to find that it had been dated to WAY before his time, as in about four hundred years before his time. That could explain the 'darker' spells, if the books used when he was in school were more 'Light oriented' as Wizarding Britain seemed to be. He moved to the next book, which was a copy of Moste Potente Potions, which held the recipe for Polyjuice among other highly regulated potions. The next book was a Charms one as far as he could tell, and the fourth was a Transfiguration book that had more useful transfiguration spells than mouse-to-goblet transfiguration, or the matchstick-to-needle.

Prompto grabbed up every book there, there weren't many, and sent them into the 'miscelaneous junk' section of the subspace they had access to. He'd look through the books another time. That done, he looked around and began thinking aloud.

"Now... how do I get back to the guys?" He paced from one side of the chamber to the other, checking the walls for frozen-over passages, then back to the 'slide' which had sealed up behind him it seemed. "Awww man... seriously?" Prompto whined. He pulled out his phone and dialed Noct's number, unaware that the three of them were fighting some slippery daemons and couldn't answer.

He let it ring for a full minute, then hung up since Noct was clearly not picking up. He thought to check Iggy's or Gladio's numbers, but then a sound reached his ears. The faint sounds of battle echoing down the tunnel. "Okay, so not ignoring me then... That still leaves me stuck here... I could try to apparate... shouldn't be too difficult for such a short distance..." His musing was cut off by what he almost instinctively recognized as Noct's voice.

He sounded injured, and that was enough for the Gryffindorish stupidity to wake up, not to mention the animal instincts of both his forms practically screaming at him to aid his alpha (potential-Mate). "Fuck it!" With a firm determination and desire to reach his Destination, Prompto spun in a half-circle on one foot and with a 'Pop' sound, vanished from the chamber, which disappeared once he left it, and reappeared above the battle.

He chose an 'above' location to reduce risk of apparating into someone by accident, as that would likely result in splinching, or at least dog-piling the person he might have landed on. As such, he had a quick aerial view of the fight, Noct was being healed by Iggy off to one side, while Gladio was swinging his great sword around and cutting anything that tried to get past him in half.

Prompto didn't go for his guns, instead grabbing a magic orb and holding it to try direct the energy in a way that wouldn't hurt his friends. The orb was a Lightning Spell, and with a wrench of mental concentration (that would have shocked or dumbfounded anyone that knew him), sent just a tendril blast of magic at the daemons at the back.

His return to the group seemed to help them, for it didn't take long after that that they finished off the last of them.

"Whew, that was fun." He said sarcastically, not really thinking it as 'fun'. The guys had various reactions to his nonchalance about the disappearing, as well as a lecture via Iggy(the mother hen) about being more careful of his surroundings, but soon they were continuing on. Prompto refused to share with them what he found, at least not while they were still in daemon-infested caves, so instead he distracted himself (and them) with complaints about the cold, and such until they were seeing the 'light at the end of the tunnel' so to speak.

"What, it's that late in the day already?!" And truly, it looked to be midday already by the sun's position in the sky. Prompto groaned at the thought of how long they'd been awake now. Well, it wasn't the first time, but it certainly was not one of the best ways to spend that much time. He was going to nap the whole way to Lestallum. Then, since they'd maybe get there after six, he was going to insist they have an early night.

 _-end-_

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A/N: Done! long time over due this chapter... I apologize... But I have good news, I'm also working on finishing the next chapter of Shot of Magic! (chapter 13) and should be able to finish that one soon... Also, I'm thinking of adding a fight from the anime in this (the snake-lady that nearly killed Noct when he was a kid), anyone want to see that added? Or not? Plus, does anyone want snippets of their younger years in this?

I'm thinking of doing 'flashback' type stories in Stray Bullets, to give an idea of their childhood, which is different from canon, due to Prompto not ever being 'plumpto' and whatnot... Dunno when the next chapter of this will be based on, so 'til next time!

PS: I have two chapters for this that I'm working on, which are to be added whenever I get to those parts in the main story, well one is a Valentines one that can be posted whenever really... but I think it'll wait until next V-day for that one XP


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: So almost completed Chapter 15 of Shot of Magic and this is going to be (hopefully) written just as quickly as the last bit of the chapter is currently going. It has been WAY too long and I apologize (I have also apologized in Shot of Magic) for taking forever to get to this. This will be Noct and the guys' POV after Prompto takes off from Aracheole._

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Noctis had heard Prompto fall over, though at the time he hadn't known what was happening to the blond. He let Gladio take over the inspection of the Regalia and looked in Prompto's direction to see the blond on the ground and somewhat hunched over as though in pain. He was about to call attention to it, but then Prompto got up and pasted on a smile that he could tell was fake.

There was a noticeable flush to Prompto's face and he looked to be a mix of in pain and something else Noct couldn't quite place. Gladio had finished up and was now addressing them to help get the Regalia outside of the Garrison. Prompto walked up a little closer then stumbled out an apology and transformed into the giant winged snake he called a Quetzlcoatl but which was entirely different from the Quetzlcoatl they had here.

The three of them watched Prompto fly away with different levels of confusion, worry, and annoyance on their faces. Ignis shifted his glasses up his nose slightly.

"He's headed towards Leide... Hammerhead if I'm not mistaken." Noct had just been about to ask Specs where he thought Prompto was headed. Gladio snorted, drawing Noct's attention.

"Think the kids' gone to confess his undying love for Cindy?" The thought had his gut twisting with something he couldn't quite identify. It wasn't exactly jealousy, but it was certainly close to it.

"Not likely. I think this is another of his semi-frequent bouts of 'illness' that had him missing out on school..." Ignis refuted.

"We're going to Hammerhead." The words were out of his mouth before he'd even thought about it. Noctis got behind the wheel and gave the other two a Look. It stated, 'Well? coming or what?'. The two kept their thoughts to themselves, though Gladio looked like he was rather done with the two younger members of the group.

'About damn time these two stopped pussy-footing around their mutual attraction.' Gladio shook his head at the thought and was silent through the trip to the Garage. Ignis had a small frown on his face, though he had nothing against the idea of two guys (or two girls), Noct was a Prince, and was expected to father an heir one day. With a male lover, that would not be possible. He wanted Noct and Prompto happy, yes, but Noct also had a Royal Duty to ensure his line would continue.

Noctis spent the drive on autopilot mostly, his thoughts turned inwards to try and sort out his own feelings. He'd felt flashes of irritation every time Cindy was mentioned in teasing of Prompto's crush on her, the thought of Prompto being with Cindy had Noct's guts twisting in jealousy and something possessive welled up within him.

Thus he was looking into his own feelings. Both for Prompto and for Luna. He'd thought that he loved Luna, was in love with her. They had only known each other for a short time and corresponded over letters for longer, but was that enough for love to grow between two people? He'd told Luna all about Prompto and their friendship with eachother, he had admittedly gone on about Prompto a lot. The thought of how much he had probably been gushing over Prompto to Luna had him blushing.

Then there was Prompto himself. The guy was a ball of sunshine despite all the crap he'd gone through both as Harry Potter and as Prompto Argentum. He'd been a shining star, a ray of sunshine that Noct had needed in his life. He enjoyed spending time with Prompto, could honestly spend the whole of school breaks playing games with Prompto or doing anything else and never growing sick of it.

He honestly didn't know though if what he felt for Prompto was 'love' or if it was just 'best friends'. Looking back, he could see that he did love Luna, he just wasn't in love with her. With the idea of her, maybe. Of a love like his mom and dad's had been. He knew his dad missed his mom all the time and he wanted a love like that. But he didn't know if that was the kind of love he felt for Prompto either.

He knew Prompto was good looking, what with how much the guy trained to keep in shape and the blond had a cute puppyish-ness to him. There was something about Prompto that made Noct feel all kinds of protective over. Some raw instinct wanted to take care of the blond. Was that love? He just didn't know and that was frustrating.

Luckily, despite Noctis not really focusing on the road, they arrived in Hammerhead just after sundown. Noct got out of the Regalia and began looking around for Prompto. Cindy came up to them first.

"Thought I heard you boys comin'. Where's your friend Prompto?" That she didn't know meant he hadn't gone to see her. Noct spun around towards the diner, ignoring the others as Ignis and Gladio updated Cindy on what had happened while retrieving the Regalia and apologizing for him (on Ignis' part).

He ignored them infavor of following the faintest trace of what he recognized as Prompto's magic. It led him to a trailer that people were avoiding even glancing at. Noct felt the magic brush over him and seemingly accept him as he put a hand on the door handle.

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 _A/N: done. That was fast. O.O Seriously, why couldn't Ch 15 have been this easy to write out?_ Hopefully _this and the long chapter will make up for the wait? So,_ next _chapter of this is gonna be possibly the one I have partly written already...maybe..._ idk _. lol...I have two chapters of Stray Bullets currently written or partly written that_ are _not going to happen for a while yet I believe (one is in the ten-year-gap so yeah...a ways off)_

 _-Double-upload of chapters!_


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